Parking idiots

I'm sorry that many of my posts seem to be about driving and car related issues but these things annoy me. The one thing I am certain of is that driving has been mystified by too many "driving instructors" into a kind of magic or higher ability. It definitely isn't, in fact it is really very simple and boils down to the undemanding ability to push one of two pedals, (one to go and one to stop), and a very small learned skill in turning a large wheel in front of you sufficiently to negotiate corners.
That said the next mystery is why some drivers cannot judge the distance between their car and the path, lampost, other parked vehicle or any other type of obstacle when they are parking. Emergency service vehicles, especially the wider ones i.e. fire engines need 10 feet or 3 metres of space to get through. If they are to get to the scene of a fire before all the children in the building are reduced to cinders they need to be able to drive without having to ease gently between to stupidly parked vehicles.
Simplifying the mystical driving game once again - PARK A FEW MORE YARDS/METRES AWAY AND WALK BACK TO YOUR DESTINATION YOU BONE IDLE DUMMIES.
There, see? so easy to get the anger out!

Blind safety lens

As part of the blind industry I am aware that there is only token understanding of the issue of child saftey with regard to the dangers of blind cords.
While there have been reports of the deaths of many children in the last year there is still no legislature governing the way we approach this, and the main reasoning is that the industry is very actively giving the end user warning signs, labels and advice so that the government does not have to devote parliamentary time to passing a new law.
This is standard procedure these days and to a certain extent is to be commended as this issue particularly shoud have cross party support, centring as it does upon the safety of children, but there are still debates to be had and the drawing up of this type of legislation requires a considerable amount of time before the matter can become law.
To keep everyone going requires those of us who can to keep the subject alive and also to push it as far as we can towards the top of everyone's agenda, at least getting more people looking into there own homes to see if they have the safest environment for their own children or perhaps visiting relatives or friends children if they have grown up families.
The danger from strangulation in looped blind cords affects mainly children below the age of 4 years, not because they are incapable of realising the danger to themselves but from the fact that they can die due to the immaturity of the neck physiology. Death can occur in less than a minute even if a paramedic were to be on scene it is unlikely the child could be revived.
My latest Squidoo lens How safe are your blinds has more detail.

Dipstick in car

I was following a car today and I noticed in the rear window two small T shirts one read "small dude on board" aaaaah!
The other read "little princess on board" aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!
Hanging from the rear view mirror in the front window was a pair of little bootees AaAaAaAaAaAaAaAa!!!!!! Presumably belonging to a mini "little dude" or "little princess".
The only sign missing was the one that read "dipstick who can't see out of the windows on board"

Is it speeding?

Oxfordshire have turned back on their speed cameras after 8 months without, because, they say "there has been an increase in the number of deaths since they were turned off". While the number of poeple killed has risen they don't tell you that these deaths occured away from the camera sites and that around the actual camera sites there were no deaths and only 2 more crashes.
Bearing in mind that last December was one of the worst for crashes since the car was invented due to the apallling icy conditions I don't find any increase either surprising or alarming.

While the debate will continue and there will be more crashes where the severity of the injuries will be due to the speed of the vehicles involved, the ridiculous "Speed Kills" campaigners will now become ever more vociferous.
I've stated this on every occasion I can and I reiterate; speed doesn't kill or all the F1 drivers would be dead, it is CRASHING that will kill you. Drive carefully whatever speed you do and you will survive roads full of incompetent and untrained drivers without crashing.

New article on Hubpages

Just completed an article on Hubpages

New look website for Effigy Blinds

Finally finished the new look website and Effigy Blinds should now benefit from all the hard work put in by the creative side of the business which is Faith.
Most of the pages have been re-worked with more images of blinds and less words. Now the name of the game is driving traffic to the site

Effigy Blinds created roller blinds with stunning new fabrics

Roller Blinds

Here at Effigy Blinds we hand make roller blinds for sale to trade, contractors (builders, architects, interior designers etc) and to the public. With a huge range of colours, patterns and fabric types, we are certain that we can find the right look for your home.

With new poles, finials, braids and other adornments we believe we had the best options for finishing your roller blind to a stunningly high level. We supply 32mm tube as standard but upgrade to 40mm or 45mm where the size of the blind demands a more robust set of hardware.

One of a very few makers to have a table capable of making blinds up to 4.5m wide we will also stitch and bond more fabric together to increase the drop and we have made blinds up to 6m total drop.

Other options include the Senses range of soft rise roller blinds from Eclipse which are made with a head box and can be adjusted to rise to a certain point each and every time they are used. With an amazing set of new fabrics our main supplier, Louvolite, have just updated their whole range and now offer some of the most beautiful designs currently available.

Specialist fabrics treated with Ultrafresh® giving them anti-bacterial and  anti-fungal properties (including MRSA infection) in a terrific range of colours and patterns are a must in any location where hygiene is a criteria.

Where there are small children in the home or in nurseries and schools our roller blinds can be supplied with safety products which reduce the risk of strangulation by the operating chain including easy break apart chain connectors and clips or pulleys attached to the wall or window. Alternately, the blind can be made with a spring operation which eliminates the need for any operating chain.

SEO and how to get the best by yourself

Strangely, although I knew a little about Search Engine Optimization it was something I never really thought about until I decided to see if we could afford to get professional help with our website.
As the language of SEO's isn't Serbo Croat or Ancient Greek I found I can understand it and it made me go and look for more information which led in turn to free software for site analytics and some Google research giving great tips on how to get the most out of your website.
Annoyingly, I have been missing out on something so simple which I can easily do myself. No disrespect to anyone who does SEO for a living and I would still recommend most people to go and see a recommended SEO if you don't enjoy the geeky side of webwork (hey! new word) and certainly if you don't have some time to dedicate to doing this stuff yourself but it's not rocket science and as with nearly every piece of knowledge these days everything you need to know is out there and most of it is freely available with a little digging.
See our site for some interesting facts about blinds in the Did you know? boxes on Effigy Blinds